Page 30 of Beneficial Misfortune

I guess I should probably follow him. Either that or I can just stay here in the car.

Even the car’s too expensive for you.

I shake my head with a laugh at the thought, but it’s true.

I’ve hardly gotten out of the car before a tiny wrecking ball slams into me. I clutch the door frame to stay upright and smile down at Addison, whose face is buried in my stomach as she holds onto me for dear life.

“Hey, sweetheart,” I say with a chuckle, unable to hide my amusement. With the way she’s reacting, you’d think she hadn’t just seen me an hour or two ago.

Pulling back, she looks up at me with a huge smile before she drops her arms from around my waist, practically vibrating in place.

“Come on, Ms. Kat, I want to show you my room!”

For someone so small, she has one hell of a grip, her tiny hand grasping mine as she drags me behind her toward the door.

“Oh! And you can finally meet Ruby and my brother, Dessy!” She shrieks and pulls harder, making me laugh as I quickly make my way after her.

Note to self: No heels with her.

At this rate, I’m going to fall and break my neck.

We make it to the front door at the same time Nathaniel reaches it.

“Addison, Princess, don’t pull her arm off,” he says, shaking his head, earning a glare from her as we pass, and I can’t help but chuckle. Nathaniel Lawson might be a man of money and business, but he’s so very clearly wrapped around his daughter's finger that it's hard not to find it utterly adorable.

Addison doesn’t let up as we make it through the foyer and up the stairs. I don’t have a lot of time to look around, but what I do see is surprisingly normal. I’d half expected everything to be marble and, I don’t know, gold or something else ridiculous. Instead, I find the floors are dark wood, and the walls are painted white and gray. There’s art on the walls, plants here and there, along with other decorations. While it’s still very clear they have money, it has a homey feeling I hadn’t expected.

We make it up a set of stairs and down a long hallway with a few doors on each side before we come to a stop outside of one of them. Addison drops my hand long enough to open the door before yanking me inside with her.

Holy shit.

I’ve heard Nathaniel call Addison princess a few times now, and while it’s an adorable little nickname, I see where it comes from now.

The room is pink, everything from her bed to the walls and carpet, with gemstones that make everything look like it’s glittering when she flips the light on. Her bed is huge, way bigger than any five-year-old would ever need, and covered in fluffy blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals. It sits against the far wallin the middle of the room, with a large canopy built above it. The canopy is the same oval shape as the bed and has curtains that hang down to the edges, with little fairy lights shining inside of them.

I take in the room as Addison finally releases me with a squeal of joy. She barrels into her room and drops to the floor to wrap her arms around one of the biggest and meanest-looking dogs I’ve ever seen in my life.

“Ruby! Meet Ms. Kat!”

That’s Ruby?!

Of all the dogs I could have pictured, never in my life would I have pictured this one. In my mind, Ruby was a small dog, maybe a Pomeranian or even a golden retriever puppy.

In no world would I have imagined a Doberman!

“Ruby, sit,” Nathaniel’s voice calls from behind me, startling me. I whip around to find him standing in the doorway. I hadn’t even realized he’d followed us up here.

“He’s a bit protective. I wanted to make sure he was on his best behavior,” Nathaniel tells me, clearly seeing the question in my eyes.

Hearing that makes me uneasy about having my back to him. Turning back around, I find Ruby watching me, and while I’ve never had a dog of my own or even been around very many; I don’t feel like it wants to eat me.

Is that a thing? Do dogs let you know when they are about to chew on you like a new bone?

It’s not until I bump into something that I realize I’d been moving back away from the dog and out of the room. A hand comes up to rest on my arm, and I quickly realize I didn’t back into something but someone.

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry, Nathaniel,” I rush to say, moving away from him.

“It’s fine, Kat, really. I know Ruby is intimidating. He’s not at all what most assume a five-year-old girl will call a pretty puppy, but he doesn’t seem to mind you.” He looks down at me almost as if in question, but if there’s a reason Ruby might like me, his guess is as good as mine. Shaking his head after a moment, he looks back to Ruby and Addison, who are still sitting on the floor. Addison is giving him belly rubs, and it’s hard to find him as scary with his tongue hanging out of his mouth and his little tail wagging hard enough that it sounds like a drum on the carpet.

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